


No Fear

by JustAndrea



Category: Batman - All Media Types, The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)
Genre: Cartoony violence, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Death, fear gas visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 15:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10947513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: Every hero has something to fear… Both old fears and new ones… Thankfully, hugs make it better.





	No Fear

**Author's Note:**

> Yaaay, new fic! ^v^ Thought of this while I was watching my brother fight Scarecrow in the new Injustice game. Enjoy!  
> Also, quick warning. Soooorta graphic imagery ahead. But I mean, graphic for Legos. So, no actual blood or anything. Still, I wanted to give you guys a head’s up!

The full moon had already risen above Gotham, with the dark violet sky acting as its stage as it shone down on the city. Below, there were plenty of people out and about - not too surprising, since Gotham was a big city after all. Of course it would have a healthy nightlife, even after all the crime that usually happened during this time.

And speaking of which…

**_*BOOM!*_ **

Several citizens quickly turned towards the explosion, each letting out a small scream or gasp in surprise. Others just instantly ran for cover out of instinct. However, as the green gas from the explosion began quickly washing over the late-night shopping and/or clubbing crowd, very few managed to escape it. 

And, as more screams of fright were heard, a raspy laugh echoed over them. “Yessss,” the masked man smirked as he sauntered through the chemical fog, a metal pack full of fear gas on his back and a hose in his hand, “Another successful experiment~”

All around him he could see people afraid - and not just of him, but of their own imaginations. From spiders and killer mosquitoes, to snakes and giant hungry rats, to- …giant man-eating tax forms apparently (the doctor actually felt kinda sorry for that guy), everyone on this block was seeing their worst fears!

And Scarecrow was _loving it._

“Now, let’s see how many more people I can frighten~ Perhaps I should take my little experiment to the bank next.” After all, fear gas wasn’t cheap. And hey, what was crime without a little robbery?

Chuckling again, the Scarecrow started heading towards the next street, but stopped when he saw something fly by out of the corner of his eye. “Huh?” Unfortunately, he was just a bit too slow, and as Scarecrow turned to try and block the attack, a bat-a-rang ended up hitting and getting stuck in his fear-gas hose, blocking it completely.

“No!” The Scarecrow’s scowl deepened as he looked up - and sure enough, he could see a pair of white, glowing eyes staring him down. “Batman… Hmph, I would be a fool if I had thought that you wouldn’t come after me tonight. However, _you’re_ still a fool for being here!”

“Maybe,” Batman gruffly replied as he stayed in the shadows, “But come on, did you really think I’d just stay in the cave and let you terrorize everyone in Gotham?”

“Oh come now, it’s only a little experiment!” Scarecrow insisted, “A bit of late-night chemistry. Scarecrows never sleep, Batman. Always vigilant, always spreading fear - or, in my case, fear and gas. Speaking of which-” Lifting up his hose, he started to pull on the stuck bat-a-rang, “How about I give you a taste of my latest concoction?!”

“Sorry, Scarecrow!” A new voice shouted, making the villain flinch, “But-!” From behind him, a rope was thrown and instantly wrapped around him, trapping him as well as keeping him from releasing more gas.

Robin smiled proudly before hopping down from his position. “It looks like science class is canceled for tonight!”

Batman smirked, giving his sidekick/son a small nod of approval - he really was improving on his awesome one-liners, and Batman couldn’t be prouder! - before hopping down himself. “Heh, if it’s any consolation though, you should still be able to make it to Arkham’s villain arts and crafts class tomorrow.”

However, instead of looking disappointed or angry, Scarecrow simply smirked, even as the Dark Knight started walking towards him with bat-cuffs in his hand. “You know, I really am more of a chemist than an artist so, I think I’m going to skip out. Besides, every experiment has a back-up plan!”

With that, Scarecrow threw his head forward. He nearly gave himself whiplash, but (more importantly) he also managed to knock his straw hat off his head. A hat that, as soon as it hit the ground, automatically released a whole cloud of fear gas!

“Hey!” Batman shouted, glaring and squinting through the gas as he heard both evil laughter and footsteps. Maybe Scarecrow couldn’t use his arms, but he could still run and escape! But Batman wasn’t about to let that happen! So, ignoring the gas the best he could, the vigilante ran through it and after the masked doctor.

Robin however, just backed up and covered his mouth. “Uh oh…” He may have still been a new hero, but he still knew how powerful Scarecrow’s fear gas could be. The Boy Wonder could still remember nearly a year ago when Scarecrow released a bunch of it near the orphanage. Most of the kids had been affected by it, and Dick himself had had nightmares about his parents for almost a whole week…

But, as unpleasant as those memories were, he wasn’t about to let them stop him from helping his padre! So, holding his breath and going as quickly as he could, Robin took off his sparkly cape and wrapped it over his mouth and nose like a bandana. 

Maybe it wouldn’t keep out all the fear gas, but it would at least slow its effect on him. And with that taken care of, the boy ran after his father and their villain of the night. 

The two of them had actually gotten pretty far, and with all his movement (combined with his own skinniness), the Scarecrow actually managed to shake off the ropes. Now all he had to do was unclog his weapon. “Come on… Come on-!” 

He gave a small yelp as another bat-a-rang whizzed by his head. Close, but still a miss! “A miscalculation, eh Batman?” Scarecrow shouted back at him as he turned a corner into an alley. 

Batman however just narrowed his eyes. His vision was starting to blur, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He simply got out his grappling hook and shot it up towards a nearby fire escape, using it as a sort of jumping point/shortcut into the alleyway. “Are you sure _you_ aren’t the one who’s miscalculated, Scarecrow?”

“Huh?” the still-running doctor raised an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder, trying to find his pursuer, “And just how can you say that?!” 

…Unfortunately for Scarecrow, no sooner had he said that did he look forward and see exactly what Batman had meant. And as the doctor’s feet screeched to a halt, Batman simply glided down and stood behind him. “Because, you’re the one who just ran right into a dead end.” 

No nearby windows into buildings to jump through, no holes or pipes to crawl through, and a wall that was way too big for anyone without a grappling hook to climb. The Scarecrow sighed, muttering under his breath about how he _knew_ there was a dead end here, he simply forgot. 

“Now,” Batman started to say as he crossed his arms, “Are we going to do this the easy ‘take-you-to-Arkham’ way, or the punching way? What’s it going to be, Scarecrow?”

“A simple enough choice, I suppose,” Scarecrow shrugged, still facing towards the high brick wall, “In fact, it reminds me of another. The old ‘Fight or Flight’ decision that the brain has to make each time it’s faced with danger - faced with something threatening and intimidating enough to cause the mind to enter into a state of primeval panic. So, tell me Batman-”

The doctor finally turned around, with a bat-a-rang in one hand, and an open hose in the other. 

“Which will _you_ choose~?” 

With that, Batman was practically smothered with gas. The Dark Knight coughed, covering his face with his cape the best he could. “Ggh-! S-Scarecrow!” Even through the thick green clouds, he still could see the villain trying to escape. “No! Not gonna happen, Scarecrow!” 

After all, it wasn’t like this was his first time being poisoned with fear gas. He could deal with it. He just had to stay focused! Stay focused… Stay focused… Stay-!

Batman stepped forward, using his arms to push away the gas. He quickly spotted an arm and- …Wait. The arm… It wasn’t Scarecrow’s. It was on the ground, and it had a blue sleeve on it. “What…?” 

The hero took a couple more steps forward and- He completely froze at the sight.

All around him were… were his friends. His family. Alfred, Barbara, even people like Jim Gordon and the Joker! But they weren’t just lying there. No… They were lying in _pieces._ Completely and utterly broken with X’s over their eyes. 

However, as horrible as seeing all of this was, Batman’s clouded mind quickly focused on just one set of body parts - arms and legs that had been adorned in bright red and green clothing. “No… No!” 

Batman couldn’t even move - the most he did was falling to his knees - yet the image of his son’s broken body somehow came closer. And, unlike the others, his eyes weren’t just X’s. No, instead Dick’s eyes were wide and filled with fear and sadness and pain… He was supposed to protect his son. So why? _Why didn’t he protect him?!_

All around him, Scarecrow’s chuckles echoed. In the back of his mind, Batman knew the villain was escaping, but his body didn’t budge. His eyes still couldn’t look away from his broken family - his broken son.

“It really is nice to see that I can still get a reaction out of you, Batman,” Scarecrow taunted, his pace now slow since he no longer needed to run. Besides, he always loved watching the effects of his gas. “Even if it does take an extra dose or two, I can easily say it’s worth it. Oh, but don’t worry! I’ve got plenty more for the rest of this city!”

“Oh really?” a familiar, slightly muffled voice asked. Eyes widening, Scarecrow turned around - and nearly got hit with a metal bo-staff. Yelping slightly, the Scarecrow jumped back while Robin glared at him. “Then I guess I just have that much more I have to take from you!”

“Hmph…” The doctor began to narrow his own eyes. “As if a child could ever intimidate me!”

“Yeah well, no one said that I had to intimidate you to beat you!” Robin retorted. With that, Robin leapt up and swung his staff at the Scarecrow. Again, Scarecrow dodged, but this required moving back into the alley. If he wanted to escape, he’d now have to get past the Boy Wonder. 

“Grr, little brat!” Admittedly, Scarecrow wasn’t the greatest hand-to-hand fighter, but he still had a couple tricks up his straw sleeves! After managing to dodge another would-be blow, he quickly got out a gun and started firing. “Pew pew!” 

Retracting his bo-staff, Robin ducked and rolled out of the way out of the bullets. Once he was safe though, he quickly extended his staff and used it to help him pull jump up and over the Scarecrow! 

Before the villain could even try to turn around and shoot the boy, he felt a sharp kick in his back strong enough to knock him to the ground. Not wanting to give him a second chance, Robin also made sure to push the gun away from him before pointing his staff at the Scarecrow. “Gotcha!”

“Erg, t-that’s what you think, boy!” Still desperate to escape, the Scarecrow held up a fear-gas grenade - and dropped it just before he could press the activate button, thanks to a flying bat-a-rang. A bat-a-rang that, once he had unstuck it from his hose, he had simply discarded. “NO!”

Robin grinned as he glanced over his shoulder. “Nice shot, Batda-!” He stopped, his smile falling as he noticed that his father was still on his knees. “…Padre? A-Are you-?”

“Robin. Cuffs.” “Oh! Ah, right…” 

It didn’t take long for GCPD to arrive at the alley, and with Scarecrow already in handcuffs, it was easy to take him in. Still, as successful as their mission had been, Batman still only gave half-hearted “Thank yous” as he and Robin headed towards the Bat-mobile.

Worry still clearly on his face, Dick spoke up once more. “So, uh… Batman? Is everything-?”

“Seat belt,” Batman reminded him, his voice quiet yet still just a bit stern. 

“Oh, right. Got it.” The boy quickly put his seat belt on, and the Dark Knight started the car. 

“…You’re alright, right?” his father asked suddenly as ‘Puter drove them back towards the Cave.

Smiling a bit, Dick nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think I got much of the gas, thanks to my cape.”

“Good… Good to hear. Nice work.”

“Thanks! …And, what about you, Padre? Are you-?”

“I’ll be fine.” And with that, the conversation had ended, leading to only silence and light radio noises the rest of the ride home.

()()()()()()()()()

Bats squeaked and fluttered above as he poked his lobster thermidor. He’d only managed to eat a couple bites of it so far, and it was starting to get cold again, as had the earl grey tea that he had told Alfred to bring him.

Batman sighed. Getting exposed to any kind of gas always seemed to cause him to lose his appetite, whether it was sleeping gas, laughing gas, poison plant gas or-… 

“Ugh. Stupid fear gas…” He had already taken some antidote for it, but he knew very well that it wouldn’t really start to kick in for at least another half hour or so. Until then, he’d just have to at least try and relax. Forcing his fork into the seafood, he took a bite of the luke-warm lobster and slowly closed his tired eyes. 

…Unfortunately, once his eyes were closed, all he could see were broken friends and family members he had let down.

Choking slightly on his bite, Batman quickly opened his eyes and made himself swallow. “No…” He muttered, squeezing his fist. 

He thought he was used to whatever Scarecrow’s fear gas had to throw at him. Snakes, clowns, his parents’ disappointed faces - even visions of that one bad night in Crime Alley… He had faced them all, and he had still managed to break through these horrible, fearful visions all on his own and save the day from Scarecrow each time.

But this…? How could he just forget seeing something like _this?_

“…Batdad?”

Gasping slightly, Batman turned his chair around and threw a punch. Thankfully, the person behind him had not only been expecting it, but also knew how to block. “Whoops,” Dick said, looking more sheepish than frightened by the attack, “Sorry, didn’t mean to-”

“I wasn’t!” Batman shouted, a bit too loudly, “I-I mean, you didn’t scare me. It was just, uh, heroic reflexes, you know?”

“Heh, right,” Dick said, smiling for just a moment.

“Yeah. So, uh… What did you need, buddy?” Batman asked.

“Well…” Dick glanced away slightly, “I, I guess I just wanted to check up on you. I, I know you probably inhaled some of that fear gas and, well-”

“I-” Batman started to argue, but as soon as he saw his son’s concern he stopped, giving another small sigh. “Yeah, I… I guess I did breathe a bit of it in, yeah,” he admitted (finally), “But, I’m not lying when I say I’ll be fine, okay? I mean, it’s not like this is my first time getting gassed by the Scarecrow. I’m used to this sort of thing. And, and I’ve already taken antidote for it anyway so-”

“But are you still being affected by the gas right now?” Dick interrupted.

Again, Batman felt the need to tell the truth, albeit a bit reluctantly. “Ugh, yeah, I’m… I’m still being affected by it. But the antidote should kick in soon. Shouldn’t be too long now. ‘Bout half an hour wait, tops. So it’s fine, really.” 

Forcing it only a little, he gave Dick a small smile before turning back around. Maybe he ate a bit more and made it look like everything was normal, the kid would stop worrying. So, he stuck his fork back into the lobster, lifted it up towards his mouth and Batman stopped, blinking as he felt a pair of small (yet still very strong) arms wrap themselves around him. “Huh?” 

As surprised as he was, he fought the urge to try and break out of the hold. Instead, the Dark Knight put the lobster back on his plate before looking down at Dick. The kid was leaning over the armrest of the Batcave’s computer chair just so he could hug his dad, not caring how uncomfortable the position might have been for him. “Uhh… What are you doing, Dick?”

“Hugging you,” Dick replied simply.

“Well, yeah, I can see that,” Batman told him, rolling his eyes slightly, “I mean, _why_ are you hugging me?” Even if he had gotten somewhat used to it, he still couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward about it.

Dick however, unsurprisingly, didn’t mind the hugging at all. “Now just seemed like a good time for hugging,” he explained, still refusing to let go.

“Okayyy… And just how long is this ‘hug time’ thing going to last, cause it’s been almost a minute already-”

“Eh, I’d say maybe… half an hour tops?” Even if wasn’t really able to look up at his father, Dick knew he was probably giving him a flat look. 

“Dick, this really isn’t necessary.” 

“Well, I kinda think it is, Batdad. So, I’m gonna keep doing it.” 

“Yeahhh no. Come on, Dick, let go.” “Nope, sorry Padre!” “Dick-” “Nope!” “Kid-!” “Nuh-uh!” _“Richard-!”_

“I’m not going to let you be all alone while you’re feeling scared, Dads.” 

“…” Once again, Batman couldn’t help but fall silent at that. And as he sat there without a word, he felt Dick hug him tighter - tight enough to feel his adoptive father’s shaking, despite his attempts to hide it. 

“You wouldn’t let me just sit somewhere all alone, feeling sad and afraid,” Dick quietly told him, “Not while fighting crime, not in Arkham Asylum, not after Joker’s big top scheme - not ever! So… So I’m not gonna let you sit here all alone either!”

“…Heh.” Batman smiled, just a little. “Yeah… Yeah okay, fair enough. I guess it’s hug time then.” He paused for a moment. “Though, maybe we should move this hug thing upstairs, just so your arms don’t get too tired. Besides, I could use some more tea anyway.”

Dick smiled. “Sounds like a good idea to me!”

With that, Batman stood up - and Dick continued to hug his shoulders as tight as he could, hanging off them now. “Huh… You know, maybe I was right to assume that your hugs are actually attacks,” Batman smirked, making Dick giggle a bit, “Come on, kid. Let’s go.” “I’m right beside you, Batdad!”

Maybe it was a bit unorthodox - and certainly different from what Batman was used to - but he supposed it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Just like how letting people in wasn’t necessarily the worst thing either. Far from it, in fact. 

“…Hey, Dick?” Batman spoke up as he pressed the button to the bat-elevator.

“Hm? Yeah?” Dick replied. 

Maneuvering his arm slightly, making sure not to accidentally shake his son off him, Batman managed to wrap an arm around Dick’s waist and return the hug. “…Thanks, kiddo.”

Dick smiled, laying his head on his dad’s shoulder. “No problem, Padre. Any time.” 

Yes, the fear was hard to deal with at times. Very hard and very tiring. And yet, the more Batman thought about it, the more he knew it was true: Even if this fear was tough, having a family was still more than worth it. 

It had taken him a while to learn that, but with Dick and the others being willing to stay by his side, he knew he would never truly forget it.

**THE END**


End file.
